Now listen to me, Collins, a word of advice. If you can resist the urge to rev this V12 engine over six thou' it will last forever,' said the car salesman. That salesman happened to be the legendary Le Mans and sports car racer Mike Salmon, who was working at Maranello Concessionaires some 50 years ago. Bill Collins, then a 25-year-old property developer, was in the Maranello Concessionaires showrooms in Egham, Surrey, to buy his second Ferrari.
'Growing up, I'd always been mad about Ferraris and when I turned 18 my uncle, who was, how shall I put it, a bit of an eccentric ducker and diver, bought a Ferrari 330GT 2+2,' says Collins. 'It was ostensibly his company car and, as I was in the property business with him, we drove it all over the country at considerable speed. It was totally reliable and never went wrong and I remember once winding it up to 7000rpm in overdrive, which must have been nearly 160mph.
'My uncle finally sold the 330 and so I found myself at Maranello looking for another Ferrari back in 1971. There was a beautiful 250 SWB on the shop floor but it was too expensive. So I made an offer on this 1964 250GT Lusso, chassis number 5467GT, one of only 23 righthand-drive examples ever made. When new the Lusso was the cheapest Ferrari V12 you could buy, with a list price of £5900. I didn't pay that because it was secondhand, having had one previous owner. His name was Rory McEwen, a Scottish folk singer living in London. The car was delivered in silver, but he'd ordered it in this Aston Martin 'Roman Purple', so Maranello sent it to Harold Radford in King Street in Chiswick to have it repainted. I have DVD footage of the Ford GT40s undergoing some development at Radfords with my Lusso in the background,' says Bill.
Denne historien er fra September 2022-utgaven av Octane.
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Denne historien er fra September 2022-utgaven av Octane.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
The Pro route to faster lap times
Mercedes-AMG GT 63 Pro 4Matic+
The power to corrupt
2024 Aston Martin Vanquish
De Tomaso Racing Blue Blood
IF THE MARQUE De Tomaso is mainly familiar to you through cars such as the Mangusta, the Pantera, maybe the Longchamps and, if you're next-level classic car geek, racers such as the P70, then the sheer variety to be found in this mammoth tome is going to come as something of a shock. There are literally dozens profiled here, and one or two will probably be news to even the most seasoned enthusiast.
A star is reborn
This recently revived coachbuilt beauty made the final four at the Pebble Beach concours in August
REINVENTING THE WHEEL
The gyroscopically stabilised Gyro-X blurred the line between reality and science fiction. Sam Glover takes the prototype for a spin
SAYONARA GT-R
After a remarkable 17-year career, the supercar-humbling Nissan GT-R bows out on a high
TOURING PARTY
Lamborghini 350 GT and Aston Martin DB4 Vantage: two 1960s super-GTs with a special Carrozzeria Touring connection. But which thrills the most?
The world's craziest road race?
Surprising history of the Targa Florio
THE COLOUR OF VICTORY
This Mercedes 2.0-litre Targa Florio was part of the winning works team on the fabled road race in 1924. Now it's back to tackle those same Sicilian mountain roads a century on
GLORY BE
With the Ferrari 288 GTO, Enzo himself kicked off a series of supercars to reinvigorate his over-gentrified marque. Now, 40 years on, Octane examines a genuine legend
